Open Eyes
by daccu65
Summary: Sometimes you don't appreciate the low-maintenance friends because you don't have to put in the effort to keep the relationship. What happens when that friend realizes he's not appreciated?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Dear potential reader, please know that the characters appearing in this little tale are not mine. They are owned by a combination of Mark McCorkle, Robers Schooley and the mouse-ears empire. This story is not intended to generate profit, but was written purely for the enjoyment I found in putting the thoughts on on a screen and, hopefully, your entertainment._

 _This story begins on the bus ride back to Middleton, after the episode "Return to Wannaweep"._

 _Preliminaries aside, please enjoy..._

* * *

The bus rolled along the dark highway, the monotonous drone of its tires dulling the senses of its occupants… all but three. One of those staying awake was Kim Possible, teen heroine and head cheerleader. From her seat, near the back of the bus, she could look forward and see Mr. Barkin's face, dimly lit by the vehicle's instrument panel, as the big coach and assistant-to-everything faculty member guided the bus back home. Between the coach and the head cheerleader, the rest of the squad had surrendered to the combination of exhaustion, boredom and, in several cases, pain killers; and had fallen asleep.

The term disaster pretty well summed up the recent competition. As was usual, Bonnie had brought out the worst in Kim…and visa-versa. Distracted by her dual drives to win the Spirit Stick and upstage Bonnie, Kim failed to give Ron's suspicions about Gil (or was it Gill?) due attention. As a result, the once-again-mutated teen had rampaged through the camps surrounding Lake Wannaweep. Several campers had wound up with injuries (thankfully minor) and a rival squad's mascot had won the coveted prize. All-in-all, a week of intense effort and stress had produced nothing.

Wanting to talk about it, Kim turned to her right to speak to her best friend, and third of the bus's awake occupants, Ron Stoppable. Her words, however, died in her throat when she saw his expression.

Ron had been acting weird; or more to the point, weird for Ron, ever since the final assembly was dismissed and the small swarm of cheerleaders and mascots scattered to pack their bags and prepare to depart. At first, he had been his usual, cheerful self but had gotten surlier as the group dispersed. By the time he returned from his cabin, a frown had taken up residence on his face. He had simply joined the rest of the Middleton Squad and waited for the bus, not saying a word, his frown deepening by the minute. Once Mr. Barkin arrived with the transportation, he had helped load everyone's bags in the luggage compartment, then stumped into the bus and planted himself in one of the seats. While the rest of the squad climbed on board, he didn't make eye contact with anyone; he simply stared out the window as the rest of the squad found their seats. He didn't even acknowledge Kim when she sat next to him.

The weird behavior hadn't stopped. Ron loved to join conversations, whether his input was welcome or not. Ron also loved to sleep, with no consideration if the time and place was proper for slumber. Finally, Ron didn't stay angry; while he did get mad on occasion; his innate cheerfulness usually took over very quickly.

Yet, as the bus had pulled out of the parking lot and the rest of the squad discussed the events of the past week, Ron had remained silent. When Bonnie had told the rest of the squad about Ron transforming into a giant, beaver-mutant, he had remained silent. Even when the squad reached the consensus that none of them ever wanted to visit Gottagrin/Wannaweep ever again, something Kim was sure would earn the blonde boy's immediate endorsement, he had remained silent.

As the sun went down and the rest of the squad, one-by-one, drifted off to sleep, Ron had continued to glare out the window, defying both his natural inclination to sleep and his tendency to remain upbeat. Occasionally, a passing car's headlights provided enough light for Kim to see that, if anything, Ron's frown had gotten deeper as the hours passed. While Kim was in no way intimidated by her friend, she was at a loss for how to speak to him when he was in this state. Fortunately, she didn't have to dwell on the matter for very long. Shortly after she came to the conclusion that something was wrong with her friend, Middleton's lights appeared in the windshield.

" _ _Maybe he's just a little off__ ," she told herself. " _ _After all, he was transformed into a giant rodent, with engineering inclinations. That has to be unusual, even for him. I'll just keep a closer eye on him for the next couple of days__ _._ "

"Alright people, LISTEN UP!" Mr. Barkin bellowed, from the driver's seat. The coach's roar jolted the sleeping squad awake, even causing Kim and Ron to jump. "We will be at the high school in the next fourteen to twenty-three minutes, depending on traffic. As per Middleton High's extracurricular activity SOP, I will personally inspect every piece of high school equipment at the end of the next school day, which is Monday. Failure to properly maintain school property, for which each of you has taken responsibility, will result in detention."

Ron finally showed some of his familiar personality, heaving a large sigh. Kim commiserated with him; Mr. Barkin would be satisfied with the rest of the squad if their uniforms were clean but would minutely inspect every square centimeter of the Mad Dog head, all too happy to unleash massive detention sentences on the mascot for the slightest imperfection. Still, Ron didn't start whining about the fact that he had made the mad dog mask, nor did he try to lobby for more time, by pointing out that repelling mutant attacks wasn't a normal expectation for extracurricular activities. Instead, he went back to his intense inspection of the world passing by outside the window.

Kim didn't want to discuss Ron's attitude while the rest of the squad was close by. At the very least, Bonnie would use any admission, any bit of information, to make Ron's school life even worse. Instead, Kim used the remainder of the trip talking to each squad member and cataloging their assorted injuries. Ironically, the three who had actually confronted Gill directly; Bonnie, Ron and herself, had escaped without injury. Of the others, Marcella's sprained wrist and contusions on her forearm were the most serious, and would heal in a couple of days.

By the time she finished her interviews, Mr. Barkin guided the bus into the Middleton High parking lot and parked the vehicle within centimeters of the point at which it had departed, last week. Shaking her head at the coach's obsessiveness, Kim noted several vehicles lighting up, as the doors were opened. It would appear that the squad's assorted parents had showed up to pick up their rattled daughters.

For all that she sometimes didn't like Mr. Barkin's attitude, she had to admit that the man never shirked responsibilities...even those that shouldn't fully fall on his shoulders. Squaring himself, the big man stalked off of the bus, ready to face parents that were angry over the danger their children had been subjected to. Feeling somewhat responsible herself, Kim quickly positioned herself next to the man, ready to provide such answers that she could.

Fortunately, the parents were much more interested in confirming that their children hadn't sustained serious injury. Since these same parents had been in this same parking lot, only a year prior, hearing about Gill (or was it Gil?) attacking their children, they accepted a story that would have had most audiences discretely calling for an ambulance to pick up the teacher for evaluation. By the time the story was finished, Hope, Marcella, Bonnie, Tara, Crystal, Liz and Jessica had their bags in hand and were each walking to a parent's car. It was at that moment that Kim realized that neither her nor Ron's parents were present.

That was no hardship to the head cheerleader. A girl who regularly infiltrates villains' lairs to fight the worst that a mad scientist can throw at her was hardly going to be daunted by a a walk of several well-lit blocks through a peaceful neighborhood, nighttime or not. Turning around, she planned on asking Ron if he'd like to crash on the Possible couch for the night. It would be a win-win situation, as he could throw some evening snacks together for the two and she would have a chance to figure out just what had him so upset. To her shock, she saw only her own bags sitting next to the bus. Wasting no time, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and called her young assistant.

"What's up, Kim?" If the boy addressing her from the device in her hand had been asleep prior to her call, he showed no sign. Kim reflected that no matter when she called him, from any point on the globe, he always appeared to have been waiting for her call.

"Ron cleared out," she informed the boy. "He was acting weird on the bus, can you tell me where he's gotten to?"

"One minute," he requested. There was a flurry of clicks as his chubby fingers flew over his keyboard, with the speed of a professional drummer and precision that would make her brain-surgeon mother envious. "Got him," he reported. "I'm watching him on a series of traffic and private security cameras. "He's walking home, but he doesn't look very happy."

"That boy has no moral fiber," Barkin commented. "When things get rough, he bails out and runs."

Kim stifled and angry remark about that. While her best friend wasn't bold and inspiring, he was hardly one to flee when things got rough. Their latest adventure was clear proof. Fixing her teacher with an almost impudent smirk, hoping that he would grasp the irony of what he had just said, she addressed the man.

"If it's all the same to you, Mr. Barkin, I'll be on my way home. Wade is watching Ron and will make sure that he gets home safe."

"Well, I don't think that there's anything in this town that can endanger you," the coach told her, as Wade sounded his willingness to monitor the boy in question until he arrived at his home. "As long as the young genius is willing to vouch for Stoppable's safety, I think it's time to call this little trip officially over."

Kim growled slightly at the implied insult towards her best friend, but chose not to comment. Instead, she hoisted a small backpack onto her shoulders, deployed another bag's handle and was off towards home, the second bag's small wheels making a whirring sound to accompany her brisk pace. While the sidewalks in the area were not yet equipped with ramps at the intersections, she had no problem lifting her bag over the curbs. Soon, she was in her home and saw the note on the kitchen table.

Her father was at the space center, performing and adjusting final corrections to place a satellite in orbit around one of Jupiter's moons. He would be in sometime around sunup the following morning. Her mother had been called in to the medical center for an emergency procedure and would be home when she could. Her two brothers were at their cousin Larry's for the night. Sighing slightly, she set about making herself a sandwich while keying the Kimmunicator again.

"Ron made it home," Wade reported, knowing what she would ask. "His parents are out of town again, so he's on his own for the night, just like you."

"Did he seem okay to you?" She inquired.

"He didn't seem in a very good mood," Wade admitted. "But it has been a pretty weird and stressful week, even for the two of you."

Kim couldn't hold back a snort of laughter at that one. Yes, her life was bizarre and she thrived on it.

"Maybe a good night's sleep is all the two of you need," Wade suggested. "I'll talk to both of you tomorrow."

"Maybe you're right," she agreed. "Have a good one."

"Wade out," he smiled, before severing the connection.

Upon completing her sandwich, she looked at it with a marked lack of enthusiasm. She had no doubt that at this moment, several fellow students were either returning home from dates, from hanging with friends, or were still hanging with friends. Others were probably finishing up their weekend homework, freeing themselves for the rest of the weekend, or maybe just going to bed in a house with the family present. She had just spent a week in an intense cheer competition and had saved countless competitors and other campers from a raging mutant. What did she get? A cold sandwich, an empty house and a backlog of schoolwork to deal with. For a moment she seriously considered going over to Ron's house and asking to crash on the couch, just to know that her friend was in the same house. She shook the thought out of her head; they were both tired and just needed some rest. Promising herself to check on Ron and the rest of the squad tomorrow, she devoured her sandwich and turned in for the night.

She was so exhausted that she didn't wake up when her mother arrived home. She was so exhausted that she didn't wake up when the sun rose, nor when her father arrived. She only woke up when her brothers barged into the house, insulting each other over who knew what, as they made their rambunctious way to their room. Jostled out of a deep sleep, she made her groggy way through the house to check on her parents.

Her father was in the kitchen, power-chugging coffee in an effort to stay awake.

"Shouldn't you just go to bed?" She asked him.

"I'd get my days and nights mixed up," he told her. "I'd rather be a bit of a zombie today, sleep tonight, and be ready for tomorrow."

Kim shrugged, deciding it was up to him.

"How about mom?" She asked.

"She's sleeping," James Possible told his daughter. "Or at least, she was trying to before the boys got home. It was a rough night for her. She has another procedure scheduled tomorrow afternoon, so she needs her rest. How did the competition go?"

With a heavy sigh, Kim poured her own cup of hot, liquid caffeine, took a seat across from her father and described what had happened. It was a testament to the bizarre life that Kim led that her father was able to take it all in stride, despite his lack of sleep.

"So you lost the competition, several camps around the lake were damaged severely, several people sustained minor injuries and you captured the mutant involved," James summarized when she was done. "Did you spend any time with boys?"

"No!" Kim snapped back. "Just the squad and Ron!"

"Then there was no permanent harm done," he concluded. "The camps can be repaired, minor injures will heal and you'll have other competitions to win."

"Well, Ron seemed a little down last night," she said. "I think I'll head over to his place and see how he's doing."

"That's nice," her father murmured. "I think I'll take the boys to the park and give your mother a chance to catch up on her sleep."

It was a sunny, Sunday late morning that greeted Kim as she stepped out of the door and made her way to her best friend's house. She idly noted that there were no lights on in the house but didn't think much of it; his parents were often gone and one didn't need the lights on to play video games. Ringing the bell didn't bring a response and neither did calling the Stoppables' number. Somewhat concerned, she called Wade.

"Ron's not answering the door or the telephone," she told her young friend. "Can you tell me if he's left the house?"

"He's in there," he answered. "Let's just say that I suspect that he's in the garage."

"Thanks, Wade," Kim put the Kimmunicator away and pounded on the garage door. In a very short time, it opened to reveal her best friend.

"Oh, hey KP," he greeted her. "What brings you over today?"

"Just checking to see how you're handling the fallout," she told him, following him inside when he turned and returned to what he was doing prior to her knocking.

"Not a scratch," he shrugged. "Just getting ready for Monday."

He stopped at a workbench, where the mad dog mask was resting. Rufus scampered out of the disguise and chittered at Ron.

"Good job," he thanked the little guy. At Kim's odd look, he explained. "Rufus cleaned out the hard-to-reach bits."

Indeed, Ron pulled several cotton balls and swabs out of the mask. Now noticing more details, Kim noted that the same kit he used to make the mask in the first place was on the bench, opened, as well as several school books.

"Whoa," she commented. "You repaired all of the damage and even got a head start on your homework?"

"Well, when I got bored working on the mask, I did homework," he admitted. "When I got bored doing homework, I worked on the mask."

"That's not like you," she told him. "Usually I have to get you started on this stuff."

For a moment, he just looked at her.

"Yeah," he finally muttered. "Maybe some things just have to change."

She didn't feel like arguing his statement, or the darker-than-she-was-comfortable-with tone that he used to deliver it. Instead, she looked over his work and found that it was mostly correct and that he had done the vast majority of what was due tomorrow. She was impressed and told him so. His mood improved, so she suggested a late breakfast or early lunch and Bueno Nacho, which improved his mood even more. Soon the two were walking down the familiar sidewalk.

While they were walking, they heard a car's horn honk and turned to see Tara and Jessica drive by, waving at them. While Kim offered a friendly wave in return, Ron's hands remained at his sides. Deciding that he must not be feeling sociable today, she led the way into his favorite dining establishment. Soon, they were at their usual booth, an array of the faux Tex-Mex food piled in front of them.

Ron, who was facing the back door, suddenly smiled and waved. Turning around, Kim saw Monique and quickly mimicked Ron's gestures. The girl waved a hand, letting them know that she would join them as soon as she had her own food. It was then that Kim paused to think, wondering why he had greeted Monique in a friendly manner but hadn't so much as acknowledged that Tara and Jess existed.

" _ _He was probably hungry,__ " she decided. " _ _Now that food's in front of him, he's feeling more himself__."

Moments later, Kim was scooting over slightly so that Monique could sit next to her. Ron, mouth full, nodded politely and Rufus offered a quick wave before diving into an order of nachos. The newcomer, however, immediately started to grill Kim.

"So, I've heard some rumors that you wound up having an adventure at that cheer camp competition thing," Monique told her friend, leaving the redhead to wonder how news could travel so fast. "Tell me all about it."

So Kim did so, telling about how Gil used his position as a mascot for a competing team to search out the remnants of the toxic sludge so that he could become a mutant again. She told about how he became Gill again and rampaged through the camps surrounding the lake, how Ron found the same sludge and turned himself into a giant beaver hybrid to fight him, and how they finally captured him in a safety net from circus camp.

For a short time, Monique simply directed her gaze back and forth between the two teens.

"If it was anyone but the two of you, I'd say you were just making up a story," she shook her head, a smile forming on her face. "Ron, have there been any side effects? I mean, you're okay, aren't you?"

"I think so," he shrugged, actually smiling again.

"For the two of you, it's all part of a routine week, isn't it?" Monique dropped her chin into one hand.

Kim tittered into one hand while Ron took on a rueful expression.

"Yeah," his smile vanished. "All part of the routine."

Before Kim could question his sudden change in demeanor, Monique launched into a description of the latest deliveries to her workplace and focal point of teen fashion, Club Banana. It didn't take her long to convince the redhead that she absolutely _had_ to drop by and check out some new tops. Monique then quickly looked back to Ron and asked if the two of them had anything planned.

"No," Ron carefully placed the packaging from his meal onto his tray. "Nobody's about to plan anything with me, are they?"

With that, he got up and deposited his trash into the nearest receptacle.

"Hey," Kim interrupted his walk to the door. "Mind if I stop by tonight so we can go over our homework?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "I'm sure I'll be at home."

Kim was a little unsure as he stalked off. He seemed just so down. However, Monique's description of the new apparel to be found quickly took her mind off of her brooding friend. She made a mental note to talk to him in greater detail in the evening before accompanying her friend to the bus stop.

It didn't take long before the two were working their way through Monique's place of employment, carefully evaluating several items and even trying a few on. While Kim hadn't brought enough money for her purchases, she did place a couple of items on layaway. After that, the two young women wandered through more of the mall, looking at various items of jewelry, clothing, school supplies, sporting goods...pretty much anything that they felt like looking at...which turned into pretty much anything.

As Kim was a celebrity of sorts, the store owners didn't mind her and Monique just poking about. Not only were the two young women polite, pleasant and respectful; Kim, with her celebrity status, drew more people into their establishments. While sales didn't exactly skyrocket, numerous admirers, upon seeing the teen heroine looking at particular sneakers, snack foods, backpacks or inexpensive jewelry, found themselves purchasing 'what Kim Possible was looking at'.

During their sojourn, Kim and Monique encountered Tara and Jess. The redhead assured herself that the other two cheerleaders were physically fine and not overly traumatized by the experience. They also saw Bonnie, whom they ignored, then saw Crystal. Again, the two cheerleaders exchanged pleasantries and concerns before parting ways. Kim noticed that Monique was giving her an odd look as they exited the mall and found their way to the nearby bus stop, for the ride to their neighborhood.

"What?" Kim demanded of her friend.

"WDYMW?" Monique asked.

"What do I mean, what?" Kim correctly translated Monique-speak. "You're giving me an odd look. What's up?"

"Why don't I talk to you about it tomorrow?" Middleton High's gossip queen suggested. "I want to check on some things.

While Monique liked to 'share the news' to a sometimes alarming degree, she was very close-mouthed when she chose to be so. Kim knew the signs; whatever her friend had noticed, she would divulge when she was ready to do so. Shrugging, Kim engaged her in conversations about fashion and high school gossip, having been out of the loop for the last week. By the time they reached their stop and parted ways, Kim had been brought up to date, a little more thoroughly than she really wanted to be, about the unofficial goings-on in her high school. With a last farewell, the cheerleader was on her way home.

Once back home, it did not take long for her to realize that while her brothers were as full of energy as ever, both of her parents were in roughly a 'walking zombie' level of fatigue. She took it upon herself to order some Chinese take-out for everyone and then curbed in the tweebs' more inventive use of chopsticks as almost-lethal weapons. Once everyone had been fed and herded safely away from the table, she loaded the minimal dishes into the washer before heading off to check on her best friend.

Upon reaching the Stoppable home, she noted that his parents were now back. Her friend's parents welcomed her warmly and ushered her towards Ron's room. Once there, she walked inside to see him working on his homework assignments, muttering to himself while doing so.

"How's it going?" She asked, causing him to startle.

"Just fighting out some of this algebra," he grumbled.

She looked over his shoulder and realized that he had made one error, which was throwing off his later calculations. She pointed it out to him and he started to make more progress. While he was doing so, she took a quick look at some of his other work and found a couple of errors. She marked them out for him and realized that he would have gotten an A minus for his efforts, without any prompting on her part. While he still seemed uncharacteristically irritated, she had to admit that he had suddenly gained some ambition. Perhaps it was a by-product of being a beaver for a short time.

She was about to suggest watching some television or some other method of unwinding when she realized that she still had a couple of assignments to finish. Embarrassed at her own lapse, she reviewed his now finished algebra work before excusing herself to head home.

"I'm going to head in early tomorrow," he told her, when he walked her to the door. "I have to drop off the mad dog head and I don't want to lug it around all day."

"Okay," she shrugged. While it was rare for the two of them to not walk to school together, it wasn't unheard of. Barkin always rode Ron hard, so the earlier he could get his 'school equipment' turned in, the better. Still, she was a little concerned about his grouchy, if motivated, behavior.

"See you in home room," she suggested.

"Yeah," he agreed, before she left for her own home.

Since she was the only functioning quasi-adult in her home, she assumed both authority and responsibility to impose quiet upon the household. She demanded that the twins show her their homework, and was chagrined to learn that they had already completed all of their assignments for the semester. After that, she put them to work on some extra-credit assignments, chased her parents off to bed and sat down to her own schoolwork. It was close to midnight before she was finished, so she reminded herself to never get so involved in a mall spree that she forgot about school. With that, she turned off her light, crawled into bed and slept through the night.

It was odd the next morning, not having Ron show up. It was odd walking to school without him and not chatting with him at her locker. As much as he could be irritating, it was something she was so used to that she missed it when it was gone. Monique was scarce that morning, so Kim found herself going to her home room with a minimum of interactions. Once she reached home room, it was clear that something was wrong.

Barkin was glaring at Ron. That in itself wasn't anything unusual, but it seemed more a 'specific incident' sort of glare, rather than his usual, 'glare at Stoppable for the sake of glaring at Stoppable' sort of glare. Ron wasn't acting normal, either. He usually just ignored the vice-principals glowers, when he didn't ignore Barkin's disapproval, he usually tried to make himself scarce. This morning, Ron occasionally met the big man's eyes, and he neither shrank nor acted impudent.

As soon as home room was released, Kim grabbed her friend in the hall.

"What happened this morning?' She demanded.

"I turned in the mad dog head and my uniform," he told her.

"Turned in your uniform?" She asked. "Why? What's going..."

"Stoppable!" Barkin's voice drowned out the hubbub that was the Middleton High hallways. "I tolerated your lazy ways before today, but no longer. Get to class! Any loitering in the hallways will result in detention, now that you have plenty of time to serve it!"

"What's he mean?" Kim asked her friend, but he was already striding purposely towards his next class.

"He means I better get moving," Ron grumbled, and did just that.

The rest of the morning proved to be frustrating for Kim. Ron was constantly on the move, not giving her a chance to find out why Barkin had it out, more that usual, for him. At lunch, he didn't make an appearance in the lunchroom. That was definitely not like the boy. The afternoon proved to be no better, with Ron avoiding speaking to her and Barkin...barking...at him at every opportunity. Kim looked forward to getting cheer practice over with that afternoon so she could grill Ron on the way home and find out what was going on.

"Okay squad!" She addressed her team, once they were in uniform and ready to practice in the gym. "We had a rough time last week, but it's time to put it all behind us and think about regionals!"

The other girls replied with a heartening round of cheers.

"So, let's get ready and in position. We're going to run the routine through once and see where we're at!"

"Where's the loser?" Bonnie grumbled.

"That's no way to talk about Ron!" Kim snapped at her.

"And he's no longer your teammate," Barkin announced. The big man strode into the gym with Ron next to him. Instead of his cheerleading attire, Ron wore a gray sweatsuit.

"Mr. Barkin," Kim protested. "The whole Gill...or Gil...incident wasn't Ron's fault. There's no need to kick him off the team!"

"I'm not so sure," Bonnie quipped.

"I did not remove him from this team," Mr. Barkin informed them, as Kim shot a nasty look at her rival. "This morning, Stoppable arrived at my office and turned over both his mad dog mask and his uniform, informing me that he was quitting the team. Of course, I made the mandatory effort to dissuade him from this foolish course of action, but he would not listen to reason. I did, however, require him to inform the squad, in person, that he was leaving and offer an explanation." The big man paused for dramatic effect. "Stoppable, the floor is yours."

Barkin walked away from the boy, clearly leaving him to his fate.

"I didn't think it would be a big deal," Ron muttered, looking at the floor. Suddenly, his shoulders squared and his face came up, showing a scowl. He looked each of them, in turn, in the eye as he continued. "Most of you never wanted me on the squad in the first place and after last week, I finally realized how much. Fine, you don't want me here and I finally got the message. I quit."

"Not so fast, Stoppable," Barkin's voice halted him as he turned to leave. "I believe the ladies might have something to say to you."

"So what brought this on?" Crystal took the initiative. "Okay, that Gil guy was scary, but don't you run into stuff like that all the time?"

"It was Gill who was scary," Ron corrected her. "Not Gil, and that's not what made me quit."

"Then what?" She wasn't going to let him get away without explaining himself.

"I didn't really appreciate all of you calling me a loser in front of the whole camp!" He snarled, the unusual demeanor making the entire squad flinch. "I was trying to warn all of you! I was trying to warn everyone that he was up to something but nobody would listen."

"It was a pretty far-fetched story," Hope pointed out to him. "I mean, until it happened..."

"You mean, until it happened again!" Ron interrupted her. "That thing tried to turn all of you into mutants last year but did any of you remember that! No! When the rest of the camp started calling me a loser for being suspicious of him, if just one of you would have mentioned last year, maybe he would have been stopped before he mutated again! But no, it was just so easy to call me out, wasn't it?"

"Okay, we probably didn't handle it all that well," Marcella agreed with him. "But that's no reason to just walk away! Think of all the competitions we've won."

"Oh, now it's "we"?" Ron snapped back. "You think I can't hear the comments and the griping? Like I said, you really don't want me on the squad and I finally realized it! I'm leaving. Why aren't you happy?"

"It's...just...you..." Bonnie spluttered at him, unable to find the words.

"It's that you're supposed to kick the loser off the squad, isn't it?" Ron glared at her. "I'm not supposed to just walk away."

To Bonnie's credit, she didn't deny his remark.

"So that's it?" Mr. Barkin rumbled. "You hit a hard patch and you give up? Quitters never win, Stoppable; and winners never quit."

"Yeah, Mr. B.," Ron sighed. "But whenever someone says that little ditty, they forget the third part."

"Third part?" The big man questioned.

"If you never win and you never quit, you're an idiot," Ron told him. The boy spun on his foot and walked towards he exit.

"Ron!" Kim called out to him. "What are you going to do for your extra-curric?" She asked, when he paused. "Not to mention, without a gym credit, you'll have to take P.E."

"I joined the track team," he answered. "I was trying out at lunch today. The coach says he can work with me."

With the answer, Ron turned again and left the gym.

"Well," Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we have to pick a new mascot."

Kim took a little solace in the fact that most of the girls didn't take the sitch quite as in stride as Bonnie. Still, there was no going back. They made plans to post fliers for tryouts and see what kind of response they got.

XXXX

Saying that things became awkward was an understatement. Ron still showed up in the mornings to walk to school, but there was a tension between them that had never been there before. They sat together at lunch, but they didn't talk like they used to. To the rest of the cheerleaders, Ron had become invisible and he treated them the same way. He didn't hate them...he simply ignored them and they returned the favor. Two weeks went by in this awkward, not-as-good-of-friends-as-they-used-to-be status, before Wade called with another mission.

"Shego stole the freeze ray from Pop Porter a couple of days ago," Wade reported, interrupting Kim's homework. "And she stole a weather generator a few days before that. I've now tracked her and Drakken to a new lair in the Montana Rockies."

"When does the ride get here?" She asked, throwing on her mission gear.

"Twenty minutes," he answered. "Ron should be at your house in fifteen."

Kim was disappointed that the mission didn't ease the tension with her best friend. He didn't feel like talking as they sat in the back of the courier airplane.

"So Drakken has a freeze ray and a weather generator," he finally grumbled. "Wade, who is usually right about these things, thinks he's going to try to re-create Glacial Lake Missoula and hold the entire Columbia River basin hostage."

"I predict that's his plan," Wade chimed up, over the Kimmunicator.

"So why are we going?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean?" Kim demanded, torn between irritation and disbelief. "He's threatening innocent people, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course," he shook his head. "I mean, why are **we** going? Isn't this a job for state and local police, Federal Marshals, the FBI, the National Weather Service and the Army Corp of Engineers?"

For a few moments, Kim just stared at her friend.

"There's no way that any of those organizations could get anyone capable of handling Drakken there on time!" She informed him.

"So two teenagers get to run across the country on a school night," he countered, standing up as they both shrugged on their parachutes. "We get to drop in to a villain's lair, they get to shoot at us with ray guns and plasma blasts while we have to punch and kick. At the end of it, Drakken and Shego will escape, a bunch of henchmen will get minor prison sentences, we'll have some sort of big hole in the ground and I'll get a D on my Sociology quiz tomorrow because I can't study."

"That's the way we do things," Kim shrugged. "Besides, you should have studied already. She jumped out of the plane.

"Yeah, business as usual," Ron muttered. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to jump out after her.

Kim didn't have time to delve into Ron's lack of enthusiasm for the mission. They were quickly on the ground and approaching what appeared to be an abandoned lumber mill. She didn't want to think about how Wade was able to determine that a ventilation grill, tucked under the eaves, would be both unsecured and unobserved. A quick shot from her grapple pulled them up to the gill, from where she led Ron as they stalked silently among the rafters, looking at the floor far below. She heard a couple of faint grunts from him, almost whimpers as he fought his fear of heights. Rolling her eyes slightly, she performed a visual recon of sorts.

Near the front of the building, it looked like some cabins had been built, inside the towering structure. From the windows, light and muted laughter emerged.

" _Henchmen quarters,_ " she thought.

Farther towards the back, two larger buildings had been constructed inside the larger structure. Kim guessed that these were homes for Drakken and Shego. Also, there was a brightly lit section, surrounded by computer screens.

 _"_ _ _Bingo__ _!"_

Kim smiled with satisfaction and led the way in that direction. As they got closer, Kim recognized Drakken working at a keyboard. She then saw that both the freeze ray and the weather generator were close at hand. Getting still closer, she saw Shego, lounging nearby and filing her nails. Soon, the teens were directly above the duo, listening as Drakken performed his usual rant of his plans.

"Just imagine, Shego!" He crowed. "Soon the weather generator will be on line and bringing heavy rains to the entire region. Once the rivers are full, I'll activate the freeze ray! The ancient lake will be reborn and threaten all of the Columbia River Valley!"

"Just in time for us to get chased out of here," Shego grumbled.

"Ah, ah ah!" Drakken waggled his finger at the enforcer. "That's where this plan is foolproof! Once I recreate the ancient lake, only the freeze ray will hold all the water back! If someone, say Kim Possible, were to destroy it, then the ice dam will fail and devastation will occur.! They will need me to maintain the dam, which means they will be unable to touch me! They'll have to keep paying me and the recurring revenue will enhance my credit score!"

"You realize that Astoria will be threatened," Shego drawled. "If someone calls your bluff and you flood the Columbia, you won't be able to visit the Goonies Convention ever again."

"What?" His eyes flew wide. "I failed to take that into consideration! Well, I guess some risks simply must be taken. Now, watch as I unleash my genius upon the world!"

The blue man roared with maniacal laughter and pulled a lever. A short distance from where Kim and Ron watched from the rafters, the roof split. Below, a platform, bearing the weather generator, lifted from the floor and into the open air above the abandoned mill. With a huge smirk and unnecessary flourish, Drakken pressed a switch. The generator started to rotate and clouds formed in the clear, night sky.

"We have to stop him!" Kim hissed to her companion. "Hang on!"

She grabbed Ron with one arm and drew her grapple with the other.

"But KP!" He hissed. "There's a ladder just over..."

"No time!" She hissed back. "I've got Shego, you shut down the machine!" She then launched them off of the rafter.

Fortunately, Ron was in too much shock to start screaming, at least until they were almost to the ground. Kim had secured the grapple to one of the rafters and had gauged the distances almost perfectly. They swept downward, arcing into a horizontal swing just above the ground. It was at this moment that Ron found his voice and screamed, startling the duo. Shego, of course, was a complete professional and was on her feet in a split second. Kim released Ron, who tumbled toward Drakken, while Kim adjusted her direction slightly and closed on Shego.

"Kim Possible!" The blue man gasped in surprise. "How did..."

Drakken went silent as the tumbling Ron took his legs out from under him like a freaking-out bowling ball striking a ranting bowling pin. The blonde boy plowed into the work console, shaking his head to clear his wits. Seeing that he was functional, Kim executed a handspring toward Shego and brought her foot down with an ax-kick. The green thief easily got her arm up to block but Kim had the recent descent from the rafters behind her kick; her foot struck Shego's forearm so hard it drove the older woman's own fist into her face. The brunette staggered back, then executed a couple of back flips, gaining both time and distance to set herself for the next exchange.

"Ron, shut down the machine!" Kim reminded her companion. She risked a glance and saw that both Ron and Drakken were getting to their feet. Then, she had to concentrate on her opponent, as Shego had shrugged off the first shot.

"Clever, princess," Shego drawled. "But you're still not in my league. Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" She punctuated her question with a classic, side kick and back fist combination.

"I'm all caught up," Kim quipped back, thinking that she needed some stronger dialog. She dodged the kick and caught the punch, redirecting it around her. Shego performed a front handspring and was ready for Kim's follow-up double kick and punch combination.

"Then I think you need some work on math," Shego quipped, swatting the two kicks away before sidestepping a punch.

"I'm getting straight A's," Kim retorted. Yep, the dialog definitely needed work.

"Okay, then try this," Shego threw a quick punch and even though Kim got a block up, the force knocked her back. "One princess plus one buffoon does not equal one Shego plus one blue knucklehead plus a bunch of oncoming henchmen!"

"Make it quick, Ron!" Kim called out. She managed to sneak a quick, snap kick past Shego's guard and send the mercenary back a couple of steps...enough time to check on Ron.

"That won't work, buffoon who's name escapes me," Drakken gloated. Kim noted that the mad scientist was picking himself up from the ground while Ron was stabbing frantically at the controls on the console. "Ha, I've disabled the self-destruct controls and the shut-down controls! You need my password to do either one and you'll never get it from me!"

Now Shego had closed again forcing Kim to devote her full attention to her rival. From the front of the mill, she could hear heavy footsteps and muttered curses as the henchmen drew close.

"Come up with something, quick!" She yelled at her friend, then she was forced to dodge and kick, bock and counter punch, duck and tumble as she and Shego fought back and forth across the lab area.

"Ha!" Drakken roared. "The only thing you'll come up with is defeat! I've finally done it! I've finally beaten Kim Possible!"

Kim noted that the henchmen were almost on top of her. Most were armed with some sort of shocking staff and while they probably weren't very skilled, there were enough that there was no way she could handle all of them and Shego at the same time.

She also noted, ruefully, that Drakken's dialog was better than her own.

"Soon you'll be my captives!" The blue man continued to gloat. "Able to watch me exert my will upon the entire Columbia River...eh, what are you doing? NO! Don't activate a lightning bolt!"

Kim and Shego, taking advantage of a long-time agreement to stop fighting and look whenever Ron and Drakken did something bizarre, paused their match and looked towards the work station. Rufus leaped into Ron's hands and the blonde boy took off away from the console. Kim noted that even the short time he had spent on the track team had improved his acceleration. This line of thought was interrupted by a bolt of lighting striking the weather generator. The excess electrical voltage quickly rushed down the cables powering the device, vaporizing wiring and blowing up additional equipment. Wherever sparks flew, the old, dry wood of the abandoned mill readily caught on fire.

"Everyone for himself!" One of the henchmen roared. The rest of them seemed of a like mind, suddenly more interested in getting out of the burning structure than apprehending the teen heroine.

"Is it too much to ask?" Drakken ranted, making no move to flee. "I didn't even get to properly implement my plan! It's only been raining for about five minutes! Couldn't I have at least started to fill the lake? Couldn't I have at least flooded Missoula before someone stopped me?"

"Later, pumpkin," Shego drawled, then back-flipped over a falling, burning beam and rushed towards her employer. Kim noted that the henchmen had a clear route to the front entrance and were making full use of it. Nearer at hand, Ron had just been cut off from escape by falling, flaming debris. However, Kim spotted another exit for him. She flipped over more flaming lumber and reached her friend. A quick kick broke through a boarded-up window and the two jumped through. Not taking any chances, they quickly ran away from the structure, which was becoming engulfed in flame.

Once the teens were a safe distance away, Kim noted that the henchmen were exiting the front of the building. She had a moment to worry about Drakken and Shego before a hovercar emerged from the roof.

"It's not fair, Shego," Drakken whined as the aircraft passed low over the two teens. "Dementor gets an average of three days before she interrupts his schemes! I researched it and did the math! I only get..."

Distance, and the aircraft's engine noise, smothered out the remainder of his rant.

The burning mill now provided enough illumination for Kim to observe the henchmen. She tensed, as Henchco assured that the henchmen supervillains hired were well paid. Since Drakken tended to be less than demanding of his employees, they sometimes were irritated at the loss of a cushy job and tended to take that frustration out on whomever cost them the employment. She didn't need to worry; sirens and flashing lights appeared in the near distance. As a lot, the henchmen realized that they didn't have anywhere to go, so they simply waited for law enforcement to arrive.

The mill had been long abandoned, with no plans of ever refurbishing it, so the firefighters that arrived simply made sure that the fire didn't spread...ironically, the heavy rains that Drakken had managed to start made this job very easy. The local and state police had to call in additional transportation assets, but they eventually had all of the henchmen loaded up and on the way to Missoula. Some local reporters showed up shortly after the structure collapsed and used the lowering flames as a backdrop to interview Kim. Finally, the ride home showed up and the teens were quickly in the back of a pickup.

The pickup took them into Missoula, where they had a short stop at the general aviation terminal. The delay was just enough for them to change into clean, dry clothing before they were in a National Guard transport aircraft that would allow them to parachute into their neighborhood. Kim sniffed at her hair and cringed; even after a good shampooing, she was sure it would smell of smoke the next day. It was only now, in the aircraft's dim lighting, that she noticed that Ron was, once again, much less than happy.

"Why the long face?" She asked him.

"Oh, why am I upset?" He glared at her, the sarcasm in his voice obvious. "Why would I be upset? I got shoved off of a high rafter, when there was a ladder we could have climbed down. I got thrown at a major criminal and we could have either been swarmed by henchmen or burned to death, all for a mission that was completely unnecessary!"

"Didn't you hear his plans?" Kim challenged. "He was going to threaten everyone on the Columbia River! He had already started the machine! We didn't have time to call in anybody else! We didn't have time to climb down the ladder!"

"He was filling a lake!" Ron snapped back. "How long would that have taken?"

A very uneasy felling suddenly struck Kim. She pulled out and keyed her Kimmunicator.

"Wade," she called. "Have you been listening to us?"

"That would be running up to the edge of ethical behavior," he protested.

"But have you been?" She asked.

"Well...yeah."

"How long?" She asked.

"Well, it would have taken a couple of days to get the river up to flood stage," Wade admitted.

"Then..." Kim prompted, when he hesitated.

"Even if he was able to channel all of the moisture in the Pacific Northwest to the Missoula Region, it would have taken him somewhere between thirty and fifty days to fill his new lake to the point it could have posed a legitimate threat."

Kim felt her heart drop down towards her stomach.

"In other words," Ron grated. "Easily enough time for the State of Montana to gather up the police and National Guard units needed to stop the plot."

"Well," Wade looked at Kim, guiltily. "Yes."

"As well alert an Air National Guard unit or two that they might have a couple of criminals using a high-tech aircraft to escape?" Ron prompted.

"Okay, I get the idea!" Kim glared back at her friend. "I jumped in without thinking things through! But we stopped the plot, that's the important thing."

Ron still glared at her, clearly not satisfied with her apology. It was a very awkward, but fortunately relatively short, flight. She let him borrow the Kimmunicator to study for his Sociology quiz. Usually, even a gesture this small would mollify him, but not this day. She heaved a sigh of relief when a red light came on in the passenger area, warning them that they were about to fly over the drop zone. Without a word, they donned parachutes for the second time, and jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft.

The rush of free-fall washed away her melancholy, like it always did. She rolled in mid-air, noting that Ron had pulled his ripcord almost immediately. She rolled her eyes as she reoriented herself on the streetlights below, reveling in the feel of flight as she watched them grow closer. She pulled her own ripcord, well within the safety margins and guided herself to the parking lot of a nearby supermarket, which was nearly deserted at this time of night. She had plenty of time to pack her chute before Ron arrived. While he wasn't the picture of grace, the had made enough such landings that he wasn't noticeably clumsy. Wordlessly, she helped him stuff his chute into his bag before the two of them trudged off. They reached her home first and left the parachutes on the front step. Somehow, in some manner that Kim didn't want to know about, Wade would recover them. Ron turned to go home.

"Ron," her word turned him around. He waited, calmly, like he was hoping to hear something he didn't expect to.

"I know I sort of ran over you," she told him. "And I'm sorry I didn't take time to listen. But you have to admit, most of Drakken's plans don't give us that kind of time. I sort of went with our regular way of doing things, y'know?"

"Yeah," his slumped shoulders told her that what she said wasn't what he had hopped to hear. "The usual." He spun again but after the first step, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.

"By the way," he said, his voice bitter. "I'm fine, just a little scraped up, thanks for asking." He then stalked away.

"Ron!" She called to him. He stopped again, but didn't bother turning around.

"What's that mean?" She asked.

"Why, it means that I'll be fine after you threw me at Drakken," he told her, now glancing over his shoulder again. "I mean, I'm sure you were going to ask, weren't you?" The bitterness in his voice now made her flinch. Without another word, he stalked off into the night. Kim couldn't think of a thing to say. After staring into the dark for several minutes, she turned and slipped into her home, hoping that things would be better in the morning.

* * *

 _A/N: My thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta reading._


	2. Chapter 2

Awkwardness doesn't go away over night.

Kim came to this conclusion during her walk to school, the day after defeating Drakken in Montana. Ron had shown up at her house, but not early enough to have breakfast with the Possible Family. Instead, he showed up at roughly the time Kim was going to leave and walked with her. No words were exchanged. A couple of times, Kim either slowed or sped up just a bit. Ron matched his pace to hers, but made no comments. Finally, as they were about to step onto official, Middleton High School grounds, Kim broke the silence.

"Ron," she caught his attention. "I guess that you're feeling that you've been getting a pretty raw deal with the missions. Okay, you probably feel that you're getting a pretty raw deal from life. I haven't been appreciating the help you've given me and that's wrong. The squad...okay, none of the squads...showed any gratitude for helping to stop Gil..."

"Gill," Ron corrected.

"And nobody apologized for calling you a loser," she continued. "That was also wrong. But did you have to quit the squad?"

"It was the best thing to do," Ron grumbled.

"Okay, Bonnie might have harshed on you some," she admitted. At his steady stare, she continued. "Okay, she harshed on you almost constantly. But the rest of the squad liked having you with us."

He continued to stare at her.

"Fine," she threw her hands up. "Most of them came to realize that you helped us score higher at competitions, you helped entertain the crowds and your routines gave us a break during games. They may not have exactly liked you but they accepted that you had become an asset."

"Just not enough of an asset to say anything positive," he added, his voice almost a growl. "On the track team, it doesn't matter. I'm the fastest one out there, so it doesn't matter if the rest of the team hates me or not. I win on my own."

"Look, you're not the only one who has some tough times!" Kim grabbed his shoulder and spun him to look her in the eye. "I sure don't recall _you_ asking _me_ if I was alright after the mission last night!"

"I didn't have to," he told her, his scowl firmly back on his face again. "There were three reporters there, and every one of them asked you how you were feeling after thwarting still another evil plot. Of course, nobody could expect them to ask if someone had tried to help you, much less ask if he was hurt."

Ron spun on his heel again and stalked into the building. Kim, who was getting tired of seeing his backside walking away while she had nothing to say, followed after a moment.

Rather than hanging around her locker, Ron stalked off to his own to get his books. Faced with the unfamiliar feeling of being alone in front of her locker in the morning, Kim was very happy when Monique showed up.

"Alright girl," Monique challenged her. "What's with all the fliers on the walls calling for a new mad dog mascot?"

"Ron decided to join the track team," Kim told her, closing the locker door.

"Did he decide to join the track team?" Monique asked. "Or did he decide to quit the cheer squad?"

Kim gave her friend an arch look, which prompted Monique to show a satisfied smile.

"I knew Bonnie was giving him an awful lot of grief," Monique commented, falling into step beside the redhead. "And I knew that you had just gotten tired of telling her off all the time while the rest of the squad didn't seem to care what went on. It's about time he said _enough_."

"Monique!" Kim protested. "Now we have to find a new mascot and we have regionals coming up!"

"All the more reason to come together as a team," she countered. "Not to harsh on each other. Did something happen that really set the boy off?"

Considering the short time before the first class, Kim gave Monique a quick rundown of the squads harshing on Ron when he tried to warn them at Gottagrin...something that they hadn't told her while at Bueno Nacho.

"Wow!" Monique answered. "That was nasty! I gotta run to class. See you later but I can't blame Ron for getting fed up with the whole thing."

Kim offered her friend a weak wave and found her way to her desk. Ron was already seated, staring at the marker board on the front wall. Kim sighed again; she hadn't realized how much she liked to chatter with Ron before he dropped into his current funk.

By that evening, her mood wasn't any better. Not only had Bonnie been in rare form...even for Bonnie...but cheer practice hadn't gone all that well. In addition to being a mascot, Ron had spotted for the squad when they formed towers. Without a spotter, it wasn't safe to practice some aspects of the routines. In addition, after the proper practice, they had gone over the half-dozen applicants for the mascot position. The squad had agreed to close the entries on Thursday morning, to review the applicants on Thursday afternoon, and to have auditions on Friday. Her mother noticed her bad mood that night.

"Something wrong?" The older redhead asked her daughter, walking into her room after seeing her husband and sons off to the garage for some sort of robot-building male bonding.

"Is it that obvious?" Kim asked. Anne only looked at her.

"I'm having some trouble with the squad," Kim admitted. "Ron quit the squad to join the track team and we need a new mascot."

"So Ronald finally walked away," Anne commented.

"Am I the only one that didn't see this coming?" Kim demanded. "Even Monique wasn't surprised that he did!"

"Bonnie constantly gave him a hard time," Anne pointed out. "While the rest of the girls pretty much ignored him. A person isn't really wired to put in effort and never receive any appreciation. If that goes on for too long, he'll look for someplace that he is appreciated."

"He acted a little odd during the last mission," Kim confided. "He wasn't happy that I didn't listen to him and that I didn't check that he was okay after Drakken ran off. Well, I didn't ask him but I made sure that he was up and moving."

"But he didn't know that you actually cared if he was hurt or not," Anne told her. "He just saw you go on with what you were doing, so it seemed the same thing to him. Most of the villains you face don't even remember his name, simply insulting him. Most of the reporters and law enforcement officials never bother talking to him after they've had a word with you."

"Just like the squad," Kim's eyes flew wide. "Could he quit _our_ team...I mean, us?"

"I don't think so," Anne tapped her chin while thinking. "That would mean watching you go off into danger on your own, so I don't think he's willing to go that far. However, he's probably letting you know that he isn't satisfied with the current situation."

Kim was quickly in deep thought about the last statement, so Anne Possible left her to her thoughts.

The next morning, Kim was waiting for her best friend when he arrived at her house. Soon, they were walking to school. Kim thought it was as good a time as any to try to repair their...sort of...damaged friendship.

"So how's it going on the track team?" She asked.

For a moment, Ron looked at her suspiciously and it tore at her to think that her best friend would ever think she had some ulterior motive for speaking to him.

"Good," he finally said. "I'm doing well."

"Details," she prompted.

"Okay, I'm probably going to compete in four events," he told her. "Sprinting, hurdles, the half-mile and I'm on the two-mile relay." He paused a moment. "How have things been going on the squad?"

"Well, Bonnie is Bonnie," her grimace brought a pained smile to his face. "I guess I never knew how much work being a mascot could be. We'll have auditions on Friday. In the meantime, I have some of the JV girls acting as spotters." She gave him a sidelong glance. "I never realized how much time it took to be a good spotter."

He actually smiled wide when she said it.

"I..." he hesitated. "I never knew how much you helped me on my schoolwork," he admitted. "Now that I'm really trying...it's hard."

"Care to catch a study session tonight after practice and workout?" She asked him.

"That would be great," he told her.

And with that, a great deal of the tension went away. They were friends again, even if they both realized that becoming the absolute best friends that they had been might take a little more time. They tarried and talked at her locker, listening to Wade present his suspicions about what he thought Drakken was doing now. During this conversation, Ron got a cunning look on his face. While Kim was a little disturbed by this, she was heartened by the fact that he was taking an interest in a potential mission. When they left for home room, Ron was talking about the latest Pain King/Steel Toe match, which brought Monique over to voice her opinions. As much as their arguments used to irritate her, they now warmed Kim's heart.

For two days, the new/old routine continued to ease her tensions away. Her best friend was fully behind her again, and that made it easier to face Bonnie and the headaches of being the head cheerleader. The routine was coming along nicely, although the mascot sitch had her nervous. Still, the regional competition was a couple of weeks away. While the new mascot wouldn't be as integrated into the routine as Ron had been, he or she would be able to at least have a little preparation. The good feeling only got better on Thursday, when Wade called at noon.

"We've got Drakken again!" Wade declared. "He and Shego have been collecting precision optics and telemetry equipment for the last week or so. Earlier today, Shego stole an experimental super-laser while Drakken stole some high tech cooling equipment. I've tracked them to a location high up in the Rockies."

"When's the ride get here?" Kim asked.

"Fifteen minutes," Wade informed her. "I've got a possible motive for him, but it sounds kind of far fetched."

"This is Drakken we're talking about," Kim reminded him.

"Okay, the laser has incredible power output, only for short bursts," Wade told the two. "It won't be able to drill deep into anything, but it can vaporize wide areas so an observer can see the effects from several thousand miles away. Also, the optics and telemetry equipment means that he'll have extreme control over it, but he won't be able to track a target that isn't moving in a predictable path."

"What are you getting at, Wade?" Kim asked.

"I think he's going to try to mark the moon," Wade shook his head. "I've checked, and he'll have a clear shot starting about ten minutes after you get to the area."

"So we better move fast," Kim commented.

"Uh, Wade," Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "This lair of his, is it on public land?"

"Yep," Wade nodded. "I'm working on the plan you brought up earlier."

"What plan is this?" Kim looked at her friend.

"Well, a good backup, in case things don't go well," Ron assured her.

Kim gave him a suspicious look, but decided not to question. She passed off the squad's workout plan to Bonnie, in case they didn't get back from the mission in time, and rushed out the front door to jump in a sports car for a quick ride to the airport. From there, a crop-duster took the two northwest into the high mountains. They parachuted onto a slope, keeping the bulk of the mountain between them and Drakken's current location. Thirty minutes of hard jogging through the forest put them in sight of their current quarry...in this case a large, circus tent.

"That's a change from his usual operation," Ron commented.

"It's either idiocy or genius," Kim agreed. "With Drakken, they're not mutually exclusive. Let's sneak in closer and see if we can learn anything more."

The teens approached the tent and slipped under one of the side walls. They found themselves among heavy crates and unfamiliar equipment. Low hums and rumbles sounded from many of the crates, and heavy cables emerged from most, interconnecting and leading towards the center of the tent. As they crept through the strange appliances, Ron borrowed the Kimmunicator and sent video of their surroundings to Wade. After several minutes, they located large tanks of odd looking liquids, with tubes that led both out of the front of the tent and towards the center. Eventually, the teens found themselves crouched behind another crate, now observing Drakken and Shego.

"This time, my plan is truly foolproof," the blue man crowed, fondly patting what appeared to be a large beam emitter. The tubes and cables led to this device.

"Oh really?" Shego seemed just as bored as she usually did. "And, pray tell, how is this time different?"

"Because this time, I'm not counting on world, regional, or even river-valley domination," he chuckled in return. "This time, I'm making a great deal of money through marketing!"

"Eh?" The green-hued woman seemed equal parts annoyed and curious.

"This laser is capable of scorching large swathes of the moon's surface," he gloated. "Blasting the dust away and discoloring the stone, making it darker."

"Not seeing where that's valuable to anyone," she admitted.

"In a few minutes, my programmed commands to the laser's guidance system will initiate, causing this baby to etch a specific pattern into the surface of the moon!"

"And that pattern will be..." she prompted, although Kim was pretty sure Shego didn't really want to know.

"The logo for the largest burger chain...and second largest fast-food chain in the world," he declared. "When teenagers around this planet get peckish and look into the sky after their late-night sparking sessions, they won't be thinking of visiting Bueno Nacho, will they?"

For several, long minutes, only the sound of the machinery could be heard.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Shego growled at him. "Of all the things you could have done with all this stuff...even just selling it to Dementor or someone...you come up with a lame-brained plan like this!?"

"The corporation is going to pay a great deal, once they see the logo on the face of the moon!" Drakken protested, holding out a notepad.

"That _is_ a lot of zeroes," Shego admitted, after her eyes bugged out at whatever was written on the paper. "So why are we doing this during the day?"

"The logo won't be visible during daylight," Drakken informed her. "Too much ambient light! Doing this during daylight allows me to perform the entire operation before anyone knows what's happening! That's why I had to rush the operation along, the moon won't be up during daylight for a couple more weeks. I didn't have time to establish a proper lair."

"So you had me steal a circus tent," she drawled. "Doc, I hate to admit it, but you actually thought this one through."

"Except for one thing!" Kim growled, emerging from the hiding space. "We're here to stop you!"

"KP!" Ron hissed. "We didn't need to..."

"Kim Possible!" Drakken gasped. "How did you find me!"

"How does she always find you?" Shego shook her head and took up a fighting stance. "Her nerdlinger figured you out and tracked you down. Now the buffoon is probably sneaking around getting ready to blow up your precious machine."

"That won't work this time!" Drakken crowed. "There is no self-destruct mechanism!"

"Ron, kill the power to that thing!" Kim commanded, rushing forward to fight Shego.

"That won't work either!" Drakken told her. "If the power is disconnected, certain volatile chemicals will be allowed to mix. The resulting reaction will spray flaming liquids over a half-mile in every direction, causing a forest fire of apocalyptic proportions! Not only that, the resulting toxic byproducts will kill every living thing in the county!"

Kim and Shego stopped fighting and looked at each other. After a moment of thought, they played a quick round of rock/paper/scissors. Shego won, as paper covered rock, and earned the right to explain the obvious flaw to the mad scientist.

"Drakken," she pointed out. "Do you realize that you are standing fifteen feet away from the center of this theoretical, yet very likely, explosion?"

"Meh!" He waved his arms. "Possible and her buffoon aren't about to take that kind of a risk! Blowing up a lair is one thing, but putting that many innocent people in danger? I don't think so!"

"Whoa!" Shego looked impressed. "You actually thought this through and were ruthless about it! My little blue employer has graduated into the big leagues!"

"You really think so?" Drakken sported a huge, enthusiastic grin. "You're not just saying that, right?"

"Once Hench gets word of this, you're a shoe-in for the cover of Maniacal Villains Monthly."

"Ron, you have to figure out a way to shut it down without causing an explosion!" Kim yelled at her companion.

"That's not happening!" Shego snarled. "He'll kill us all!"

"Game on?" The teen asked.

"Oh, is it ever!"

Soon, the two women were engaged in their usual, furious exchange of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges. Kim was able to risk a quick glance and note that Ron was running towards one of the laser's supports, rather than towards the control panel.

"Ron, you don't have time to mess around with the laser itself!" Kim shouted, now paying full attention to Shego again. "You have to shut it down!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" Drakken protested. "That's a precision piece of equipment! Get your hands off of he leveling adjustment!"

Moments later, a series of grunts and curses told Kim that Drakken had tangled with her friend. From outside the tent, more shouts and chatter sounded.

"Move fast Ron!" Kim shouted. "The henchmen are on their way!"

"Henchmen?" Shego asked. "We didn't have time to bring in any henchmen!"

"Then who's..." Kim started to ask. Her question was interrupted when two uniformed men burst into the tent.

"Everyone halt!" One of them shouted, pointing a pistol into the air. "National Park Service Police! Whoever put up this tent is in violation of the proper use of public lands."

"Cops?" Shego glared at Kim. "That's low, princess." The thief fired a plasma burst at the two men, forcing them to dive for cover. "Time to leave, Drakken!" She shouted, and fired another burst into the air.

Kim was forced to dive and tumble to avoid the section of the tent's ceiling than fell onto the spot where she had been standing. By the time she regained her feet, Shego was in one of Drakken's hoverjets, lifting off of the ground. Another man burst into the tent and shot some sort of energy beam at the craft's engine, causing it to shut down and drop back to the ground.

"Federal Aviation Administration!" The man identified himself. "That was an unauthorized flight in an unregistered vehicle! Thank goodness Kim Possible's technical support kid was able to give me a means of disabling the engine!"

Shego fired plasma at the newcomer while Kim rushed forward, determined to keep her from injuring any civilians, when two more men burst into the tent.

"Internal Revenue Service," one identified them. "Dr. Drakken, you recently received payment for advertising and you did not report the income! You're in big trouble!"

Rolling her eyes slightly, Kim jumped onto the hovercraft as Shego jumped out of the pilot's seat. She dodged a plasma burst and dropped to the ground, ready for round two. She risked a quick glance behind her and noted that the two IRS agents were moving towards Drakken, telling her than Ron would have enough help to handle him. The two park rangers were taking cover and pointing their pistols at Shego.

"Give it up!" Kim urged her rival. "If this turns into a shoot-out, the cooling systems might get damaged. You heard Drakken, we'll all be killed in the explosion!"

"That might be better than..." Shego grumbled, only to be interrupted when yet another man burst into the tent.

"Here we go again," Shego muttered.

"National Aeronautics and Space Administration," he identified himself. "That laser is endangering satellites and even personnel in orbit. It must be shut down immediately!"

"What kind of hell did you and the nerdlinger dream up!" Shego demanded of Kim. "What's next, the.."

"Colorado State Patrol!" Four more men burst into the tent. "We're following a report that a great deal of valuable, industrial equipment, plus one circus tent, was stolen and brought to this location!"

"That's it, I give up!" Shego raised her hands to the sky. "Just please, get me in a paddy wagon before any more agencies show up!"

Kim was more than happy to see the police officers put Shego in handcuffs. By that time, the Park Service Police, with Ron's help, had hauled off Drakken, as well. With the criminals out of the way, several more people, carrying more equipment, strode into the tent. One of the State Police Officers returned and seemed to take overall charge of the situation. While the latest arrivals went to work on the laser and its controller, the police officer asked the FAA representative to route flights away from the area. Once he was finished with this conversation, he approached Kim.

"Your assistant contacted us, as well as several other agencies, and warned about a possible criminal act taking place here," he told her. "Once he sent us video of Mr. Lipsky announcing his intent, plus the footage showing the stolen items, we had the cause we needed to intervene."

"Who are those folks?" Kim asked, indicating the men and women currently poking around at the laser's systems and controller.

"Experts in the use of industrial lasers, as well as an astronomer," the policeman replied. "They volunteered to come out and shut down the laser, with a minimum of danger and damage."

"We're going to disconnect the laser's power while rigging a shunt to maintain the cooling systems," one of the women explained. "It should take us about an hour."

"In the meantime, how much of that logo is going to get etched on the moon's surface?" Kim asked.

"Actually, none," a man, who Kim guessed to be the astronomer, answered. "Your sidekick wasn't able to shut down the laser, but he was able to adjust the leveling mechanism. By knocking the projector off of its aiming point by four degrees, he made the laser miss the moon entirely. The laser is shooting off into space."

"We have things under control," the policeman assured her. "Why don't the two of you head back home?"

"Well, okay," she agreed. Her temper was starting to flare, but she remained calm while she called Wade. The Park Rangers gave the two a ride to a highway, where an elderly couple picked them up in a RV. With the couple at the front and unable to overhear quiet conversations, Kim addressed something that was bothering her.

"Ron," she asked. "Why did you call in all those other people?"

"They are law enforcement officials who have jurisdiction over the laws that Drakken was breaking," he shrugged. "The laser experts were able to shut down the machine without any big explosions."

"But they could have been hurt!" Kim pointed out. "They're not equipped or trained to go up against Shego!"

"And we are?" Ron asked.

Both teens went quiet when the elderly couple paused their conversation, glancing towards the back of the vehicle.

"You know what I mean!" She whispered after a moment. "We've faced her before so we know what to expect!"

"Yeah," he managed to snort while whispering. "We've both taken beatings and bruises from her and the henchmen! What's so wrong about bringing in professional law enforcement agents to do their job?"

"Some of them brought guns!" Kim hissed at him.

Ron could only stare at her, not understanding how an honor student couldn't see the obvious.

"So Shego gets to throw plasma at us?" He finally managed to ask. "The henchmen get to use shock staffs and clubs; heck, even Drakken gets to shoot at us with all sorts of outlandish ray-beam thingies, and we can't even bring in professionals with the training to use their weapons?"

"It's not how we do things!" She insisted, with a guilty look at the couple driving them.

"So why not?" He demanded, also glancing to the front of the vehicle. He ticked off points on his fingers. "Let's see, no big explosion, no lair collapsing on top of us, all of the stolen stuff was returned unharmed...except for a hole in the tent, and this time, the police are actually there to collect evidence. I'm not seeing the bad!"

"What ever happened to the two of us, with Wade's help, helping people?" She asked. "Look at all the people who wound up involved in this one!"

"And it got results," Ron pointed out. "Do you really think that those people minded being able to do their jobs?"

Kim simply crossed her arms and stared resolutely forward.

"Look, if it's helping to tag endangered birds or find lost pets, we can do it on our own," Ron offered. "But when..."

"I don't want to talk about it," Kim snapped at him, letting him know that all conversations were over for the foreseeable future. Sighing, he got himself as comfortable as he could and tried to nap, knowing that things were back to being rough between the two of them.

Friday did nothing to improve Kim's mood. While Ron showed up for the walk to school, she simply left the house and headed to school, not acknowledging him in the slightest. He quickly took the hint and didn't tarry at her locker. Monique joined her and Kim exchanged a few words, enough to let the other girl know that Kim had a severe case of the irritateds. Monique was temporarily satisfied with a promise to meet at Bueno Nacho after practice, allowing Kim to face the school day. It wasn't much fun.

Struggling to make up for the time lost on the mission seemed much more irritating than it used to. Before, she had the satisfaction of knowing she had made a difference to keep her motivated while playing academic catch-up. Today, she had the knowledge that she had merely been a cog in a machine, that she hadn't done anything extraordinary while falling behind in her classwork. Ron was scarce at lunch time, so she sat with Monique and explained the details of the mission.

"That doesn't seem all that bad to me," Monique admitted. "Why do you have such a mad-on at the boy?"

There wasn't enough time to explain why she was upset, especially since Kim was struggling to understand it herself. They had completed the mission, nobody had been hurt, the valuable equipment had been recovered, undamaged, and the bad guys had gone to jail. Shouldn't she be happy about it?

She should, but she wasn't. Something seemed off...somehow, the action seemed so...not Kim Possible.

Cheer practice that night didn't help her mood. The day previous, Bonnie had winnowed through the mascot wannabees and pared them down to three. These three consisted of a JV cheerleader, and a boy and girl from the respective gymnastics teams. After a short practice, Kim had the squad watch each of the contestants perform a simple routine. The results weren't terrible, but weren't promising either. In the end, the squad was deadlocked between the boy gymnast and the JV cheerleader. Kim had the deciding vote and chose the gymnast, reasoning that it would be better to keep the cheerleader out of the mad dog head, in case she had to substitute for one of the varsity girls.

Still, the new mascot had a lot of work to do.

"I didn't realize it was that tough doing the routines while wearing the mad dog head," Bonnie commented. "I never knew how much Ron had worked at it."

Kim was shocked at Bonnie's admission, and heartened when the rest of the girls agreed. She felt warm when they reached a consensus to treat the new mascot better than they had treated the old one.

After practice, she and Monique had a light snack at Bueno Nacho, during which Kim described the entire mission. Monique started probing her for answers, trying to determine why she was upset with Ron. Under her friend's guidance, she started to examine her feelings and finally realized why she was upset with Ron.

"I'm all about helping people outside of regular channels," she concluded out loud. "I like the feeling when I help someone or save the world. Somehow, calling in the professionals didn't feel the same, because it wasn't me who saved the day. I want to be the one saving the day, not the one who calls someone else in to do it."

Monique gave her a curious look, but it was getting time for her late shift at Club Banana. The two said goodbye for the evening and Kim made a mental note to have a talk with Ron the next day.

The next morning, Kim was shocked to receive an invitation from the Stoppables to have lunch with them. She of course accepted, hoping that it would be a good opportunity to patch up her friendship with Ron. Of course, they had been doing more of that than usual lately, ever since the cheer camp competition. She considered this as she walked the familiar route a little before noon. To her surprise, Mr. Stoppable ushered her, and Ron, into his den to speak before their meal. He sat the teens on his couch while he sat on a chair, facing them.

"The two of you have been friends for most of your lives," he observed. "Speaking to Ronald, the two of you seem to be having a bit of a rough patch, am I correct?"

"Well...sort of," Kim admitted.

"Kimberly, I'd like you to tell me your side of events when you learned that Ronald had quit the cheerleading squad, your mission in Montana, and the recent mission here in Colorado."

Not understanding, but believing that the man had both of their best interests in mind, Kim did so, telling about how confused and hurt she was that Ron insisted on changing a very successful team dynamic.

"Very well," he nodded. "I've already spoken to Ronald about this, which of course prompted us to invite you over for lunch and to talk. I think that both of you need to learn a little about the others point of view. I'll start with Ronald."

"Ronald," he faced his son. "I don't think that you appreciate how much work Kimberly puts into her academics, her cheer-leading, her committees and her missions. Yes, Wade does a lot of research, but Kimberly makes the plans and executes them. She choreographs routines and drills the squad to execute them. She studies hard and makes plans for her various school-related activities, then sees them through to fruition. Because of this intense amount of effort, she cannot understand why someone who doesn't put in such effort should be able to simply change the methods and organizations that she creates. Because she puts in the effort, she is the one who should be directing the team."

"Kimberly," now he faced her. "I don't think that you can grasp how hard it is to perform a difficult task without any compensation."

"But I've never taken payment for my missions!" She interrupted.

"Not in money," he countered. "But you still receive compensation. Your compensation comes in the form of recognition, gratitude, respect and even affection. You are only a junior, but you are already receiving visits from college recruiters. That is a very rare for a junior cheerleader, even one with straight A's like you have. You will undoubtedly receive several offers to attend top-notch universities, with full scholarship. This is due to the fame you have gained. You have earned it, but perhaps you can't see how much you've come to depend on it."

He raised one hand to forestall her protest.

"I believe Ronald told me about a mission went on with an agent named Will Du and that he belittled your efforts," Mr. Stoppable pointed out. "Have you taken the opportunity to work with him again?"

"No," Kim admitted.

"Because working with him, being belittled and overlooked, wasn't pleasant?" Mr. Stoppable prompted.

"Well, yeah," she replied.

"Now you understand why Ronald quit the squad, and why he wants to change your standard operating procedure, so to speak. He puts in effort to assist you, be it on the squad or on missions, but he receives no appreciation, no respect and he puts himself at risk. If you continue to give without some form of compensation, the well eventually runs empty."

"The friendship that the two of you have shared has been wonderful for both of you," he concluded. "But as your lives change, the dynamics of that friendship are going to have to change, as well. I think the two of you are going to need several long talks, but they will be worth it. For now, lunch is ready, why don't we eat?"

While the two elder Stoppables maintained a pleasant conversation during the meal, the teens were quiet and introspective. After the dishes had been cleared, they wandered to a nearby park and found a secluded bench. It took several long minutes before either were ready to talk.

"I didn't understand how much effort you put in," Ron finally said. "At least until I arranged for those agencies to show up last time. You do stuff like that almost every time, planning our actions, what we're going to do, how we have to fight. I never realized how much work it was."

"And I didn't realize how much the praise and attention kept me motivated," she admitted. "Or how soon I would stop doing it if I didn't win or get any thanks."

They sat there for a few more minutes.

"You've picked up some more speed," Kim finally noted. "Care to hear an idea on how we can make use of it during our next mission?"

"Sure," he told her. "But maybe I can help with some of the planning, you know, working with local law enforcement and other agencies so that we can do better."

The two teens wound up talking until well after the sun set.

Epilogue:

High school track meets don't attract a lot of spectators...other than the competitors. Since so much of the competition consists of repeated races or taking turns performing tasks, they tend to become very boring to those not directly involved in them. Thus it was during a Saturday in the State of Colorado, when a blonde-haired boy broke the state record for the half-mile run, there were very few people other than his fellow competitors present to congratulate him for this achievement. One of those few, however, was a red-headed girl.

Cheer competitions also don't attract a lot of spectators other than the competitors. On a Saturday after the one in which the blonde boy set a new record, he attended such a competition and watched as his life-long friend's squad won yet again. It had been a very close thing, as the mascot still had not integrated himself into the routine. After congratulating his friend, he offered to work with the new mascot. He then left, letting the squad celebrate without outside interference. He was no longer one of them.

Kim and Ron continued to perform their missions, but Ron helped more with the planning and Kim took his growing athleticism into account when confronting their villains. She also insisted that he remain with her when she spoke to reporters and the various law-enforcement officials that they now worked harder to coordinate with. Their solid reputation became more fearsome as time went by.

Kim liked the new team dynamic that they had forged and had to admit that it took Ron finally having enough of being overlooked and scorned to change the way they had been doing things. If not for that, they may not have grown into the more capable duo that they had. Even their friendship might have been placed at risk. Instead, their friendship had been damaged but it had healed stronger than it had been before.

Sometimes, you had to face losing something to appreciate how much it meant to you.

* * *

A/N:

 _Thanks for reading this little tale. As always, fond thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for his beta-reading._

 _Best wishes to all;_

 _daccu65_


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